SNCF strike, Bayrou wants a referendum, Romanian presidential election... Five things to remember from the weekend

By The New Obs

Published on May 4, 2025 at 7:30 p.m.

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Recap: Didn't follow the news from this weekend of May 3rd and 4th? "Le Nouvel Obs" has prepared a catch-up session for you.

Have you been distracted from the news these past two days? "Le Nouvel Obs" offers you a summary of the key news from Saturday, May 3 and Sunday, May 4.

• On the SNCF network, a possible black week to come

This week is shaping up to be a complicated one for train users, with several calls for strike action launched by Sud-Rail and the CGT-Cheminots union over issues of pay and work organization. "It's looking very strong for the controllers on May 9, 10, and 11," warned Fabien Villedieu, federal secretary of SUD-Rail, the leading union in this protest movement .

Starting Monday, the CGT-Cheminots (French National Union of Railway Workers), the leading union at the SNCF, is calling on ticket inspectors and drivers to strike. SUD-Rail, for its part, is calling on sales staff to mobilize on Monday, as well as maintenance workers on Tuesday and drivers on Wednesday. They are also being called to mobilize on these dates by the influential Collectif national ASCT (CNA), which initiated the last two major strikes at the SNCF.

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Chronicle: SNCF in the profit circle

SNCF Voyageurs has not yet released a forecast for Monday, but disruptions are expected to be limited, if not nonexistent, on that day. However, the impact on traffic is expected to be much greater from Friday, May 9, and throughout the weekend. "We are far from a black week; there will be no week of standstill," SNCF Voyageurs CEO Christophe Faniche reassured AFP on Sunday.

• François Bayrou considers a referendum on debt

The Prime Minister raised the possibility of holding a referendum on "a coherent plan, with clear, readable proposals" aimed at reducing deficits and debt, in an interview with the " Journal du Dimanche " (JDD) published this Sunday, May 4. "It is a comprehensive plan that I want to submit, it will require efforts from everyone, and given the scale that it must be, it cannot succeed if the French people do not support it," he declared.

François Bayrou, who warned Emmanuel Macron of his proposal, reiterated that holding a referendum was the prerogative of the head of state. "The government proposes, the president decides. But the question of the French people's support for the reforms is the central issue," he said. At the Élysée Palace, he was told that " it is difficult to say anything until this plan is presented," according to a source close to him, according to AFP.

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François Bayrou's government, which managed to get the 2025 state and social security budgets adopted at the start of the year, avoiding a series of motions of censure , is now engaged in preparing the 2026 budget. It estimates that it needs to find 40 billion euros to meet its public deficit reduction targets , and intends to present its proposals for the 2026 budget by July 14.

"It won't happen in one boom, but there will be many booms" : this is the promise of retaliation against the Houthis in Yemen made by Benjamin Netanyahu this Sunday, in a video on his Telegram channel. The Israeli Prime Minister's statement came after a missile hit the area of ​​Ben-Gurion Airport , 15 kilometers southeast of the capital Tel Aviv, where air traffic was briefly suspended.

"This is the first time a missile has fallen so close to the terminal and runways," a spokeswoman for the Israel Airports Authority told AFP. The strike was claimed by pro-Iranian Yemeni rebels who control large swathes of Yemen, more than 1,800 kilometers from Israel's southern border. "We targeted Ben Gurion Airport with a hypersonic ballistic missile, which successfully hit its target," they said.

Allied with the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, the Houthis have claimed responsibility for dozens of missile and drone attacks against Israel since the start of the Gaza war. The Houthis claim to carry out their attacks against Israel in "solidarity" with the Palestinians and have targeted ships they believe to be linked to Israel off the coast of Yemen. They resumed these attacks with the breakdown of the truce in the Gaza Strip on March 18.

Instigator, relays, recruiters, executors: 21 suspects aged 15 to 37 , with no criminal record or involvement in organized crime, have been charged in the investigation into the "extremely violent" attacks against prisons and prison officers, according to a press conference held Saturday by Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau.

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Decryption: "It was you, Darmanin, who started the war": a look inside the "DDPF" group after the attacks on prisons

On April 13, in Agen, the "DDPF" tag appeared for the first time near seven cars set on fire in the parking lot of the National School of Prison Administration (Enap). The acronym "DDPF" has become a "criminal banner behind which criminals have coalesced," and "at this stage, no long-standing, structured organization seems to correspond to this acronym, which was created for the needs of the cause," said Laure Beccuau.

Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau and Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin saw these attacks as a denunciation of the anti-drug law passed by Parliament . This text provides for the creation of high-security quarters for the most dangerous traffickers.

Omnipresent social media, anger and disillusionment among a portion of the population, and many undecided voters... In Rome, five months after the shock cancellation of the first round of the presidential election, the ingredients are the same, and citizens were called to the polls again this Sunday, with a tense atmosphere and a possible victory for the far right. Polling stations close at 9 p.m., and the final results are expected on Monday.

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April 9th.">

Report In Romania, "worrying atmosphere" before a presidential election under influence

On November 24, Brussels- and NATO-critical candidate Calin Georgescu emerged as the surprise candidate , only to be barred from the election by the Constitutional Court after a massive TikTok campaign marred by suspicions of Russian interference. This Sunday, Donald Trump fan George Simion took his place, credited with some 30% of the vote according to polls that should be handled with caution.

Facing him, two contenders can advance to the second round scheduled for May 18. The candidate of the pro-European coalition in power, Crin Antonescu, offers "stability." The mayor of Bucharest, Nicusor Dan, promises to fight "corruption," claiming to be the voice of "silent and honest Romanians." However, after the cancellation, a very rare decision within the European Union, the election is under close surveillance.

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